All posts tagged ‘Phineas and Ferb’

We geeks love to imagine that there’s more to our planet than what we know to be true. Whether it’s wizards, superheroes, or time travelling aliens in police boxes, we like to imagine possibilities beyond our own. However when imagining these other Earth’s they need their own infrastructures too if we are to suspend our disbelief and allow ourselves to believe for a moment that they could really exist. Here then is the GeekMom guide to fictional government branches, military organizations, and United Nations agencies to help you decipher your MIB from your NID.

S.H.I.E.L.D. (also S.W.O.R.D. and S.T.R.I.K.E.) (Marvel Comics Universe)
S.H.I.E.L.D. (the acronym can stand for different things, most recently the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) is a secret, international intelligence agency that reports to the United Nations. It is both a covert agency and a quasi-military one with its headquarters aboard the Helicarrier, a flying aircraft carrier. S.H.I.E.L.D. keeps tabs on potential threats such as the Hulk and can organise strikes with military force when required. The agency has strong links with the superhero community whom it often employs during important missions, director Nick Fury often acting as a voice for superheroes to international governments.

Majestic 12 (The X-Files/Dark Skies etc*)
Majestic 12 (sometimes called MJ-12) is the codename given to a group of scientists, military leaders and government officials who were assembled to investigate the Roswell UFO crash in 1947. Majestic soon took over Area 51 in Nevada which was used as their base of operations as they used material recovered from the crash to build and test experimental aircraft. Majestic operatives also installed an actor named John Gillnitz as the President of Iraq under the pseudonym Saddam Hussein, in this position he would be able to create a distraction whenever one was needed.

UNIT (Doctor Who/Torchwood etc)
The United Intelligence Taskforce (formerly United Nations Intelligence Taskforce) is a military organisation that is funded by the United Nations; its task is both research and combat against paranormal and extraterrestrial threats to the Earth. UNIT was formed in 1968 in response to the Cyberman invasion, it can assume emergency powers when necessary with its members seconded from the country in question’s own military. UNIT’s powers mean it is often viewed with suspicion by the host country’s military and security agencies; it also has the authority to detain and hold individuals indefinitely without trial, outside contact, or legal representation.

Warehouse 13 (Warehouse 13/Eureka/Alphas – SyFy Channel Shared Universe)
Warehouse 13 is a small department currently within the US government; it is charged with locating, neutralizing and safely storing objects imbued with some form of paranormal power. The department is located an at enormous storage facility in South Dakota designed by Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla and M.C. Escher (the Warehouse itself) however previous Warehouses have been located across the globe following a practice of establishing the Warehouse within the empire that is currently the most powerful on Earth. Warehouse 13 employs government agents who are recruited directly into the Warehouse for their special talents. Continue Reading “The GeekMom Guide to Fictional Military and Government Branches” »

The “Oh, Christmas Nuts!” episode of Kickin’ It will air on Monday, December 3 on Disney XD. Image: Disney XD/Adam Rose.

Now that the Thanksgiving festivities are officially over, it’s really beginning to look a lot like Christmas — on TV, anyway. Over the weekend, tons of Christmas-themed TV shows started filling my channel lineup. If you missed some of them, just know that Disney will start spreading some holiday cheer as soon as the calendar flips over to December.

On Sunday, December 2, the Disney Channel will kick off its second annual “Fa-la-la-lidays” programming event. That means you can expect Christmas-themed episodes of Good Luck Charlie, Dog With A Blog, and Shake It Up, starting at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on the cable network.

There have been several panels with GeekMom writers in the past year, such as at New York Comic Con, PAX, and PAX East. I saw videos of those panels and they looked like quite a bit of fun. There had never been a GeekMom panel at Dragon*Con, so I worked with the Kaleidoscope track to make this panel a reality.

The Are You A Geek Parent? panel took place on Friday, August 31st at 1pm. We had a packed room of about 80 people and it was a great success.

I came up with the idea of trying to get a panel at Dragon*Con many months ago. The only track that I had any contacts with was the Whedonverse track, but I knew that wouldn’t be a great fit for a GeekMom panel. I asked around to my friends and I got the contact information for the track director of the Kaleidoscope track from my friend and author Janine Spendlove. The Kaleidoscope track is a new track that is geared towards younger kids from the ages of 9 and 13. It was the perfect track for a GeekMom panel. It just took an email to the track director to get the ball rolling.

The Are You A Geek Parent? panel featured myself, GeekMom Patricia Vollmer, and GeekMom Ruth Suehle, and author and geek parent, Bryan Young. We also had a Kaleidoscope track member, Trish, who led our panel. She had a variety of topics for us to talk about.

I am not real sure how this happened, but April turned into a month long birthday celebration for my kids. They are 6 years and 6 days apart so it seemed silly to have two family parties. So we had one, see the Bubble Guppies Bash, and it was good though a little hard to keep up with who got what from whom. On their actual birthdays they got presents from mom and dad and a special dinner out. Now it is approaching the end of the month, and the oldest is about to have her friend party. She is turning 8 and the last couple of years we have had a friend party, mainly because a family and friend party is too big for our house. What does everyone else do? Do you have separate family and friend parties or all one big shindig?

Geekette chose Phineas and Ferb for her friend party theme. Thankfully, I haven’t had to make most of the decorations this time, but I am making the cake and some cookies. Phineas and Ferb themselves are probably a bit beyond my drawing and decorating ability, but Disney Family has some fantastic ideas if that is the way you want to go. They also have some decorations that we are using.

Personally, Perry/Agent P is our family’s favorite character and that is whom she wanted on the cake. So, I thought I would make some cookies to go along with the theme. The cookies were easy to make and the hardest part is waiting for things to dry. Here is how to make your own semi aquatic egg laying mammal cookies or SAELM for short.

*Disposable decorating bag and *Wilton Round #2 Decorating Tip: my squeeze bottles were making his eyebrows and eyes too big so I ended up using this decorating bag and tip combo. Helped me be a little more precise, but I am not really good with finer details. Whichever you want to use will work.

Bake the cookies according to directions. Let cool completely. While they are cooling, mix up your royal icing. Separate it out into four bowls, judging the amounts based on what you will need. For example, you will need much more teal than white. Color one batch teal, one orange for his bill, one white for his eyes, and one black for his eyes and eyebrows. Outline a circle on the cookie and let dry for at least thirty minutes. See below. Thin your teal icing with a bit of water and then flood the outline on the cookie. This will be Agent P’s face. This has to dry at least 8 hours. I usually let mine dry overnight just to be safe.

Image (c) Jennifer D.

Now it is time for his details. Use a bottle of black and outline his eyes. Don’t do the pupil yet, just the outline. Let dry. Use your frosting bottle of orange and pipe his mouth outline. Let dry. Thin the orange icing and flood in your outline. Let dry. For the eyes, flood the outline with thinned white icing. While it is still wet, immediately put a black dot in for the pupil. Let dry. You can then take a toothpick and get a bit of white on it to put a white dot on the pupil.

Image (c) Jennifer D.

Royal icing tip #1: You MUST keep it covered at all times or it will dry out. When I mix mine I take a piece of plastic wrap and push it into the glass storage bowl so it is touching the icing. Then I put the airtight lid on. The goal is to keep air out. It will last like this for awhile, but you need to stir it up well before trying to use it again.

Royal icing tip#2: Use less water than you think to thin the icing. It is easier to add more water then to try and thicken it back up, which you can’t do. So go easy.

If you have never used royal icing or drawn on food before, check out Sweet Sugar Belle’s for some fantastic tutorials as well as The Decorated Cookie for some drawing tips. Sweet Sugar Belle is the source for information on royal icing for me. She knows her stuff.

Number 17 on my list of goals: Have one thriving crop. This mutant carrot is the outcome of my last gardening attempt. Photo by Cathe Post.

A friend of mine recently published her professional website after months of preparation. One of her premier posts shared 30 things she would like to do this year in honor of turning 30. It’s not a milestone birthday year for me, but the idea made sense. In an effort to set reasonable goals instead of unattainable demands, I’m going to follow in IndieKate‘s blog-steps and create a 34 in 2012 list. Here it goes…

Work on getting in shape - I just signed up for Fitocracy so I can log all of my Dance Central time in Workout Mode.

Keep up with my blog - I would like to share more on my personal blog than a log of articles I write for GeekMom. Some blogs I read just share one moment from the day that their readers can identify with. I’d like to do the same, if I’m not cleaning up the mess from said moment…

Keep up with Phineas and Ferb this summer - There is a calendar. I printed it for my daughter last summer and we only did about a third of the things that we wrote on it (let alone the ideas that came with it).

Watch less TV - My husband would probably not understand this one. I listen to Netflix shows while I’m on the computer. If I listened to audiobooks or podcasts instead, I would probably be better off.

Read More - I HATE reading. Due to my astigmatism, I end up reading the same line in a book multiple times before getting past it. It makes book reading less than fun. It’s “better” now that we have a Kindle Fire, because I can show one paragraph per page and increase the font size, but it still hurts my eyes – I have to really be interested in the book.

Learn at least one more of my husband’s miniature games – I played Warhammer Fantasy with my husband for a year. It was great fun. But, I played the season, won the tournament (and a really cool sword) and left it at that. So now I should catch up and learn Blood Bowl, Hell Dorado, and Dystopian Wars.

Learn an activity with my daughter - I don’t care if it’s Heroclix or something non-geeky – we had a lot of fun learning Pokémon together (have you heard the recent GeekMom podcast?). Mother/daughter bonding is good.

Earn my Tournament Organizer’s title for Pokémon - Since I keep running computers for Pokémon tournaments, I really should have a copy of the program on my computer. In order to have that, I need to earn my stripes!

Drink water - 8 glasses a day…blah…blah…blah…

GeekMom - The responsibilities of a core contributor on GeekMom are not unreasonable, and yet I find myself fighting to keep up from time to time. I would like to work to 125% of what is required, because GeekMom is a great community to be part of. I keep find myself saying, “That would make a great article.” So, sit down and write the article already!

Pre-school - This would be a goal for later in the year. As my youngest nears turning three, I look at the pre-school choices and cringe. The idea of teaching him myself is daunting, but doable – and he’d love it.

Eat more veggies - I eat veggies twice a day on a good day. I could be better about it.

Ride my bike - Even riding my bike once this summer would be more than I did last year.

Edit out the virtual garbage - This would include cleaning out the backup hard drive, deleting old documents, and having everything backed up and organized in one location…instead of three.

Make headway in the yard - We put in a playground (swings and a slide thanks to my parents) this last summer. We have a small rectangular backyard. I would like a third of it to be raised gardens and a stone oven for baking pizza/bread, a third lawn, and a third playground. It means DOING IT.

Have one crop thrive - I have a black thumb. Enough said.

Go back to church - I haven’t been in a year. Again, if I make it once this year, it will be a step in the right direction.

Vote - I missed our last local election and felt guilty about it for weeks. If you don’t vote, you don’t have a right to complain about how your taxes are spent.

Date - My husband. I need to make that clear. I have known my husband since 1993. We started dating in 1998, and were married in 2003. Several times we’ve misplaced the romance. We seem to find it if we can go on a date.

Pet the cats - Isn’t it scientifically proven that animals can reduce stress levels? I have four cats, so I should be four times less stressed, right?

ADHD - I need to learn all I can about this. My daughter was diagnosed with it, and I think it is a HUGE source of the behavior issues we have had in the last three years. Learning how to help her deal with her symptoms will be a relief.

Remain close to my parents - I am an only child. My parents live less than 5 miles away. I have tried very hard to be there for them this year as my mom has taken on difficult volunteer tasks and my dad has undergone chemotherapy. This year can only be better for them, right?

Have a cemented financial plan - Being in a one income household is hard. I am thankful that my husband’s job provides a roof over our head and food on the table. GeekMom Judy Berna had a similar resolution this year.

Learn how to fix one thing - My husband is very handy. He cooks, he sews, he fixes the stuff that needs fixing. Just once I should take initiative and learn to do it myself instead of asking him.

Attempt to potty train - My 2-year-old wants to do everything his sister does. So, perhaps this summer I will have the guts to attempt to teach him how to use the potty. Isn’t it as easy as throwing cheerios in the toilet and having them do target practice?

Write a book with my daughter - She loves drawing and telling stories. It would probably be a great geeky story – an epic tale even!

Brush up on my sign language - I used to be fluent, but if you don’t use it, you lose it.

Run a D&D campaign - I don’t know that RPG Kids would count. But I would run a one-shot game in a heartbeat.

Add to my client base - It would be nice to have a couple more clients to tutor in the art of running a computer.

Make one item out of one of my craft books - Complete a large fiber project (like an afghan) or a project from a craft book. I have a shelf full of craft/fiber books that are fun to look at, but I haven’t done anything other than look at them. I have done a few projects from the GeekDad books, but I want to complete ALL OF THEM.

Do one Arduino project - This is an intelligence challenge. Can I be smarter than the programming language? (I wasn’t in college – that’s for sure).

Enter one photography show - Just one. Just enough of a commitment that I have to attempt to take artsy-fartsy shots throughout the year.

I don’t think this list is unattainable. It will take some work, but there isn’t one thing on this list I can’t finish (maybe 33, but I will at least attempt it). What are your goals for 2012? Do you have some of the same crazy plans as I do?

For those of you that are already fans of Phineas and Ferb, you won’t be disappointed at all. Phineas and Ferb are finish up their summer of crazy antics with their greatest adventure yet by celebrating the 5th anniversary of getting their pet platypus Perry. You and your kids will be dazzled with over an hour of non-stop excitement.

The days are already being ticked off our Phineas and Ferb 104 Days of Summer calendar. Summer vacation is underway!

There are not 104 days in my daughter’s summer vacation. And, she certainly does not think that school comes along just to end it. As a parent, I dread the inevitable, “What are we going to do today, I’m bored!” from my kids. The Phineas and Ferb 104 Days of Summer calendar has already been worth the price of paper.

From the list on the bottom of the calendar, VIP picked making a treasure map.

The calendar is printed on to six sheets of paper that you cut and assemble. Every few days there is an activity listed to try, and there are many more suggestions at the bottom of the calendar. Grandparents have also talked about nature outings and museum trips that have been added to the calendar. To fill in, I purchased a Pet Tornado, Triassic Triops(because of the They Might Be Giants song), a OWI Frightened Grasshopper Kit – Solar Powered, and Fascinations Magic Garden Crystal Wish Flower. The combination of events has done an adequate job of filling the calendar with fun activities.

The finished map. Notice there are three "X" marks for mom to follow...

The activity today was to draw a map to a treasure and have someone follow the map to a treasure (the activity was listed on the bottom of the calendar). VIP drew a fairly accurate depiction of our backyard. She then hid a ball in the backyard, put an “X” on the map, and gave me the map to find the ball. For being a 5 year old, she did a decent job. The ball was located in the area of the map, even if it wasn’t where she drew her first “X”…or her second…or really her third (spatial reasoning is hard). She really got a kick out of watching me follow her map. If you want a more detailed idea of how to do a treasure hunt, view Laura Grace Weldon’s article about how to cure cabin fever.

I think the real treasure of the activity was VIP finding a baby tree frog in the grass. It hopped into her hand and sat patiently while I took a couple of quick photos. I’m glad my daughter is a chip off the old block, she wasn’t squeamish in the least that the frog was a little slimy, and frequently commented on the frog’s cuteness.

Baby tree frog.

As the summer progresses I know we will have a blast completing the activities. There will be no question of, “What are we going to do today?” And to end the summer, another activity from the bottom of the calendar is to make a photo book. We are going to make a book of her summer calendar activities.

What activities would you add? Would you be as crazy as Phineas and Ferb? Visit GeekDad’s recent article about upcoming Phineas and Ferb events.

I don’t begrudge any parent for doing what feels right for her family, but I do think families that unplug are missing out on amazing content, and the rewards that content can bring. I have a natural bias in this area because I work in children’s media and I know a bunch of really talented people who truly want to make great shows and games for kids.

I’m not without my moments of unplugging. When my daughter was born, I went from being someone who had the TV on constantly to a mom who was trying to follow to the letter the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation of no TV until age 2. But something happened at 18 months. A pre-Nickelodeon pilot of a show called Yo Gabba Gabba was floating around town, and when I saw it I absolutely loved it and couldn’t wait to see what my little girl would think. I loved having her on my lap watching “There’s a Party in My Tummy” over and over again.

But I stressed about it. I endured nasty looks from other parents who couldn’t believe I’d let my baby watch TV. Then I started showing her computer games. Then I got an iPhone which opened up a whole new world of gaming. Then a Wii. And a Nintendo DS. And a Leapster Explorer. And an iPad. I just did a quick count and when all are present and accounted for, we have 11 screens in a one-bedroom apartment on which to consume media. I’ve stopped worrying, though, because now that my daughter is 5 and very savvy on all of these devices, I’ve noticed some really amazing things.

Characters really want to teach ABCs and 123s. Flip on any show, game, or website aimed at a preschool market, and you’ll see characters trying to teach your kid the alphabet, math, or Spanish. In many of these cases, the creators have brought in educational consultants, tried to align with education standards, and some have even done efficacy testing to show that kids can actually learn using media.

Media can inspire new interests. Thanks in large part to PBS, my daughter calls herself a scientist, and has a genuine interest in doing science experiments at home. It started with Sid the Science Kid. Then we watched nothing but Dinosaur Train for months on end, and now she’s shown an interest in SciGirls.

Time spent on the computer is often time spent reading. My daughter’s first sight words came from the land of interface: new, play, game, continue, etc. We have some games that are reading-dependent and I can’t always play with her, and I’ve see how much this motivates her to learn to read. Older kids do tons of reading online, but it often doesn’t get counted as such because it’s not in book form.

Good video games encourage strategy and perseverance. My daughter and I are hooked on Plants vs. Zombies. Sometimes we play together and talk about different plant strategies to defeat the zombies, but one day she pushed me aside saying that she really wanted to figure it out for herself. I watched her from afar as she tried different things to see what would work. It was very scientific.

It’s easy to be ad-free. Many anti-TV parents point at advertising or the inappropriateness of the news as reasons to keep kids away from TV. We live in a time where it couldn’t be easier to control what your kids see. We gave up our cable box, but in a typical week we’ll watch DVDs, watch recorded shows which are either commercial free or can skip commercials, stream Netflix to the iPad or TV, download shows from iTunes, watch shows or YouTube on the computer, and play games on any one of our screens.

It’s good to be entertained. I don’t mind a bit anymore when we bag the educational shows in favor of some lighter fare. I’ve recently come to appreciate just how funny and surreal SpongeBob is, and watching my little girl giggle uncontrollably while watching it seems like a wonderful milestone in her sense of humor. And, we watch Phineas and Ferb as a family, which has some of the best comedy writing on television.

I realize I’m a bit atypical in how much I’m interested in watching kids shows, but one of the best things that we can do is watch and play this stuff with our kids. The conversations that can come from co-viewing or co-playing are not only enjoyable, but they can add a whole new level of thinking and learning.

The baby likes the iPad, too. This was when I was able to use Koi Pond to put him to sleep.

My screen-loving daughter is a fluent reader, she’s creative, and she has a hilarious sense of humor. We also have a baby in the house, and trying to abide the recommendation for no screen time this time around is an exercise in futility. We don’t plunk him down on the couch to watch TV, but we also don’t keep it off when he’s in the same room. And you know what? Like his sister, I know he’s going to be just fine. I can’t wait to watch Yo Gabba Gabba with him.

It figures that after sixty degree weather in NYC last week, we get covered in a blanket of snow for winter break. In between bouts of playing outside, warm up to a great movie that you can actually enjoy with your kids. You know your Pixar movies, and you’ve seen Fantastic Mr. Fox, Coraline, and How to Train Your Dragon, right? Here are five overlooked movies to check out when you’re stuck inside.

I had avoided this one in the theater, I think because the trailer heavily emphasized the military aspect of the movie and not the charming main monsters. We discovered this on video a couple months ago and have watched it so many times that all the funny lines from the movie have worked their way into our daily life.

I’m going to assume a lot of GeekMom readers have seen My Neighbor Totoro and Ponyo, so I’m going to go for a lesser-known Hayao Miyazaki treat. Our hero Kiki turns 13 and sets off for a new life where she learns how to be a witch while making her living delivering packages on her broomstick. If by chance you haven’t seen Totoro or Ponyo, by all means add those to your list as well!

Do your kids like subtitled foreign films? No? Well, they might change their mind with A Town Called Panic. It’s a stop motion film featuring toys and toy sets, and the characters Cowboy, Indian, and Horse. Cowboy and Indian have forgotten Horse’s birthday, and they decide to build him a barbecue leading to events that destroy their collective home. It’s like a hilarious Belgian Toy Story. Note: there is some mild subtitled swearing.

My daughter and I checked out Astro Boy in the theater knowing next to nothing about the character. We enjoyed watching the back story of how Astro Boy came to be (made by a genius, grieving father who lost his son), and what happens when he gets cast out of Metro City. There’s lots of action and environmental messages, but the most appealing thing about it is that kids are the heroes in a world of adults making bad choices.

For kids who are a bit older, check out this adaptation of Cornelia Funke’s wonderful novel. Meggie’s discovers something about her father when strange figures begin appearing. He’s a Silvertongue, which gives him the power to read characters out of their books. There are some great performances in the film by Helen Mirren and Andy Serkis (Gollum!) among others and some beautiful, nightmarish imagery. And, please, check out the book, too!

Of course, you can always do a TV marathon, too. If you watch a whole bunch of SpongeBob SquarePants or Phineas and Ferb back to back, you’ll discover some of the greatest, funniest writing in TV. Or learn something from watching the amazingly beautiful series Life.